Whitworth

I visited the Whitworth art gallery with university.

The blog keeps crashing I can't write more than a few lines.

To explain why I have resubmitted and edited this post, As you can see from my first line while I was writing this post blogger kept crashing I had plenty of time to write the post if it had been under normal circumstances but due to a technical error outside of my control I could not write this on the 6th of may. If you need a witness to my technical difficulties Connor from Motion design saw everything and saw my distress. Also I noticed on the due date on moodle it said the 8th at 4:05 I have screenshots to prove this.

The 3 exhibits are fantastic and all feature a dominate motif of destruction and how it brings about awareness. I think all of the touch up on important social issues Feminism, war, and loss. You may even say the work conveys a loss of innocence. It felt like I was really experiencing the destruction depicted in these pieces as I walked through the places they were displayed. They all made me think about the world around me and the fragility of it. The work itself did not inspire any of my practical work or inform my keywords essay even though Sarah Lucas had many ideas that I could have translated into my essay.

Out side these main three exhibits I saw a lot of work that I could few from a feminist perceptive and many had connotations linking to war. two piece which stood out to me were the dress made from camo and the room with the waste material from remembrance day poppies, Both have clear links with war and the camo dress felt like it was trying to push the boundaries of what is and isn't feminine or making a statement that femininity is perceived and is a social construct rather than rooted in nature. 

Personal project reflection

My personal project went through many changes throughout the project. It started as a zine turned into a comic turned back into a zine. It was suggested to me that I hand bound using coptic or stab stitch binding but instead I opted for heat binding it. If we are realistic if I was to sell these zines the hand binding wouldn't be cost effective or time effective driving the prices up. Also with how thick the zine ended up being it would be a risk to bind it that way because it could crinkle the paper that would effect the overall look of the zine. I also decided to no print the images back to back because I didn't want the pages bleeding into each other also I feel like I am unveiling each new piece as I turn the pages.

Discussion Forums

I am going to be talking about the forums which struck a cord with me.

Copyright and plagiarism

Because of me wanting to sell my work at conventions I have often wondered where fan art falls within copyright. At anime conventions the sale of fan art is common place in fact there is more fan art than original creations. And that's what the con goers expect. In the discussion forum we were told you have to make seven changes to a piece of intellectual property for it to be exempt from copyright. But how many changes does the artists style constitute as? If they are using the character in a previously unseen setting/composition is that enough changes? The seven changes is very vague.

Glitch

Glitch fascinated me because if my interest in gaming and I think glitch art is rather fascinating. Do I think it is a fad? Most probably, I think if too much glitch art is made it will turn into a trend.

Meaning

This was my discussion forum and it made me evaluate my own work. Does my work have a message? Sometimes and I think that is fine I don't think creating art you enjoy that doesn't particularly mean anything is a sign of "selling out". I don't really believe in the concept of selling out. I don't think all your work should be purely decorative unless you are a textile designer or something similar.

Moving illustration

Moving illustration really made me think about the future of illustration. I don't think still print based illustration will ever really die because there is something special about owing a tangible piece of artwork rather than a digital download. But I think moving illustration has it's place mostly on online publications, apps and weddesign. I do think we will be seeing a lot more moving illustration in the future.

Ethical Issues

I think that it is very important to consider ethical issues when creating artwork. It is very easy for people to read into a piece and interprete it in an offensive way. We have to remember we can't tell every single person who looks at our work what it is and isn't about.

Brighter city project reflection

In this post I am going to reflect on my tales of the city project I have dubbed the #Brightercityproject, for this project I made teru teru bozu's which translates to shine shine monk in Japanese which are traditionally made out of white paper or cloth and resemble ghosts. The cloth or paper dolls are considered amulets that bring good weather (or rain if hung upside down) and were/are commonly used by farmers trying to insure the correct weather conditions for their crops. They started becoming pouplar for urban dwellers in the edo period, Traditionally if the weather is indeed good the day after the teru teru bozu is displayed then eyes would be drawn on them, this is comparable to the Japanese tradition of the daruma in which you have a daruma statue you draw in one eye when you have made your wish and draw in the second eye when the wish has been completed. So I made the teru teru bozu as a metaphor for bringing happiness and I tried to achive this by leaving encouraging messages and words of wisdom on pieces of card hung from the teru teru bozu.

So was the project a success? Short answer not from what I can tell. I attached a hash tag #Brightercityproject to the teru teru bozu but nothing has come up when I search that tag.

Do you think there is something you could have done to make the project more successful?
I could have made more and hung them in more heavily occupied places but I got too nervous to hang them in densely populated places. I liked what I did though putting them in less traveled places quite a few in darker corners of alleyways and places like that because it seemed more apt and like it made more of a statement.

I also made a video of all of the places I put them and hoping people can see by the video why I decided to place each message in the place I had put them. I am not disappointed with the outcome of this project in a strange way part of me didn't want to gain from it more than I have done by taking pictures and drawing from my inspiration to do this. It was supposed to be a selfless act if I got too much back from it, it wouldn't feel selfless anymore.

If I was to do it again what would I do differently?
I would probably think more about the construction because the string even though it looked pretty was so hard to get to work and on one of the teru teru bozu it kept coming undone. Apart from that I am satisfied with how the project went.

Summer project idea + artist influence

I don't know if it has changed but I was told the summer project would be on collections, one of my collections is ball jointed dolls today I had an idea about trying to make my own in a way I have never seen done before. The idea is I would "sculpt" the doll by needle felting and I was thinking of a type of character that would fit the needled felted look and I was reminded of the idea of anthro characters.

An artist who does great monster/antro characters is slugbox most of his work isn't suitable. But I really admire how he does chunky characters and I think that Kind of form would be really interesting to experment with when needle felting.

I particularly like his Pokemon anthro's because of how much Pokemon has inspired my work over the years.

If you are brave enough to see more of slugbox's work (I would recommend making sure the mature content filter is on) you can find his work on deviantart.com.

I recently found an artist on Instagram going by the name of  Zoe Williams @x03

She makes needle felted sculptures, they are very minimalist and she makes such amazing eyes for them.

She make's taxidermy style busts they range from the more conventional to the more mutated like this rabbit with many eyes.

I would really like to explore this idea if the project permits it.

Book review: The art of Howl's Moving Castle

I am a huge fan of Studio Ghibli and my friends have helped me build up my collection of Studio Ghibli art books by buying me them for Christmases and Birthdays.

So The Book I will be talking about today is The Art Of Howl's Moving Castle. It is a collection of Sketches, illustrations, concepts, backgrounds and character design from the making of the film.  

Part one of the book shows Hayao Miyazaki's concept sketches, unlike western film directors Japanese film directors more specifically those dealing with animation are expected to draw concepts and the storyboards for the film before passing them onto other artists.

Hayao Miyazaki's concept sketches are normally pen and watercolour or pencil and water colour. Some are vague some are detailed.

"Howl's Moving Castle is set in a world conceived by late 19th century European neo-futurist painters where magic and science co-exist."

"On a research trip for Miyazaki's new film Howls moving castle. The staff visited Europe for 12 days and, although their research centered on the eastern province of Alsace in Francewhere the film was set, they also spent time in Heidelburg (Germany), and Paris, Visiting the Alsatian city Colmar for its colour and atmosphere proved to be a productive experience for the staff.  

A drawing of one of the scenes from the film.

In the film there is a parade going on which seems to be based around the military, People are waving flags and having a good time. 

The main protagonist Sophie is cursed by the witch of the wastes turning her into a 90 year old woman, she flees the hat shop where she was apprenticing under her step mother, and stumbles across howls moving castle.  

 Some storyboards drawn by Miyazaki as you can see they vary from detailed to rough sketch.

Part two of the book is all about character design finalizing concepts and what went into each part of the film.

Concept drawings of howl's castle.

Concepts for 18 year old Sophie (pre-curse)

Concept are for The Hatter's House at night (the hat shop).

This is how it looked in the film.

Grandma Sophie concepts, there was a lot of thought put into older Sophie's appearance.

"I was determined to make the aged Sophie look, cute, but I had to dismiss that approach almost imminently. She simply wouldn't look old without her skin being wrinkled and blemmished. She might appear plain, but I made sure she would have the appeal of a refined old lady."   

Michiyo Yasuda discusses the subtle changes in colour through out the film to convey emotions.  

Howl's room concept 

Howl's room in the film

 Howl's room (cave) concept 

 Howl's room (cave) in the film

Part three is a write up of the screenplay/script. It shows all of the characters lines and how they are supposed to be spoken any calls to action the voice actors might need to convey the lines correctly. It's really quite fascinating to look at.

The future

Recently I have been feeling the pressure to really find a definite route I want to take my art and I have decided after degree to purse a career in a tattooing, I considered this before I started this degree I was even offered an apprenticeship and I let the opportunity pass me by because I wasn't confident enough in my artwork.

Now I have had time to think about it I have something unique to offer when it comes to style and I want to try and practice specifically doing work which will computationally lend itself to tattoo's. As far as tattoo styles I like I am a fan of "new school tattoos".

Image from checkoutmyink

Image from oquevemporai.wordpress.com

Image from flickr

Tattoo by Autumn Tierney

Image from geeksaresexy

by Mina at Hawk and Sparrows in Malmö, Sweden.

Image from poundedink.com

by Kelly Dotty

I like new school tattoo's due the the vibrancy of the colours and how bold an beautiful they are. And I feel it really fits with the style I have established.

It maybe seen as a trend in tattooing but I am also really fond of the look of watercolour style tattoo's.

Image from huffingtonpost

Image from 1337tattoos.com

By Gene Coffey

Image from www.cuded.com

I love the fluidity of the linework (if applicable) in watercolour tattoo's, and again I love the vibrancy of the colours they use. The line's in watercolour tattoo's are varied some lines are think and bold, others look like brush and ink and some are swift and wispy.

Artist showcase Kidura

Kidura is a artist from the UK, whom I bought art from at Japan Day in 2014. She is strongly influenced by anime and manga and mostly draws fan art. I recently won a art giveaway she hosted and she is in the process of drawing me this piece.

The character is called Howl and he is from Howl's Moving Castle which is a book by Diana Wynne Jones which was later made into a movie by Studio Ghibli. I love both the book and the film even though the film follows a different path than the book.

I love how Kidura use's watercolour and her work most diffidently inspired me when I was doing my personal project. Her style is typical of someone inspired by anime and manga but it is the detail that she puts into her work that inspires me the most.

This was the piece I purchased from her in 2014.

This is a piece of Pokemon fan art, Pokemon is something which has always inspired me since I was a child and this scene is from a Pokemon game which was very influential in terms of me finding my threads of interest which lead to my art style today.

See more of Kidura's work here .facebook.com/kidura

Book cover research for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Personal Project

Since I would have to do book cover research for two projects I thought I would post it all in one chunk rather than two separate posts.

I am not sure who the artist of this cover is but this is the Japanese cover created in 2009, I was drawn to the cover because of the flat colour style which is something I have tried in my work before.

Hugh D’Andrade’s pink, leather-bound Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is very eye catching I love the black and pink together I think it really stands out. The limited amount of gold is also aesthetically pleasing. The cover is very bold and something I would definitely pick up out of interest.

Images from flavorwire.com

This cover by Sophie Douglas really helped inspire the more handcrafted feel I went with in my Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I really love the lino cut look of this cover it wasn't the look I wanted to go with but it was the rough and readiness about it that I was drawn to.

Image from cargocollective.com/sophiedouglasillustration

This is not an offical cover but this design by pannucabaguana on deviantart, I really liked the blues they used in this cover concept  and I also thought the font fit nicely with the aesthetic.

Image from deviantart.com

I found the cover for this book very creative I just had to mention it because it is simple but absolutely genius. 

Image from flavorwire.com 

These are some beautiful book covers for Ian Fleming's James Bond, I absolutely love these covers, the colours the women's expressions and how they fit together as a series.

Image's from littlegoldpixel.com

I also looked at some comics, indie comics and zine covers to get an idea for my personal project.

This cover from the indie comic Godkiller has a wonderful colour scheme it is limited but very eye catching the comic is post-apocalyptic and I definitely get that vibe from the cover alone.

Image from www.wired.com

Nurse Nurse by Kate Skelly has a very simplistic style that isn't seen much in indie comic's, the simplicity of this cover is what drew me to it. The cover has an even more limited colour pallet than Godkiller looking at how effective the two covers where made me want to experiment with limited colour.

Image from bitchmagazine

John showed me a Japanese manga called Uzamaki which was disturbing but had an interesting aesthetic.  

Images from popculturesocial.club and bloody-disgusting.com

I went to the Salford Zine library earlier in the year, The visit really helped inspire me for both my Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and my personal project. The organicness of the drawings and type is what I really liked most.

Image from viralart.vandalog.com

I wish I had done this

There has been several artists that have really inspired me since the start of the course but Glenn Arthur has to be the one I go back to the most. I think it's that his main subject is women like me that draws me to his work, among his artwork their is also fan art of anime classics such as sailor moon and dragon ball. I tried my best to contact him for an interview but I got no response. It was very hard to choose one single piece of work of Glenn Arthur's I wish I had done because in reality I wish I had the skill to do all of them.

This was one of the first pieces of Glenn Arthur's work I saw and it is called Groundskeeper, so it is only apt I choose this one to talk the most about.

I love the detail in Glenn Arthur's work, the folds in her clothing the dappled appearance of the skull, the petals falling from the blooms on her dress and the detailing on the grave stones. Glenn Arthur does his work mostly in acrylic paint how he makes acrylic paint look almost air brushed is something which will probably always fascinate and boggle my mind in equal measure. He uses tiny brushes to achieve the flawless look of the paint. One thing I really love about this particular painting is her posture, it strikes me as very proud and I feel this when I look at Glenn Arthur's other paintings to. The motif of the strong proud woman that still retains a sense of fragility and grace. He paints the strange and the bazaar conjoined twins, bearded ladies, vampires and tattooed princesses. 

A motif that shows up in most of his pieces is a humming bird, if I had gotten an interview with him I would have asked him why the humming bird? I have my own theory however, humming birds are always close to starving because they have the highest metabolism of any bird a necessity in order to support the rapid beating of their wings during hovering and fast forward flight. To conserve energy when there is a lack of food hummingbird's go into a state similar to hibernation. Hummingbirds are continuously hours away from starving to death and are able to store just enough energy to survive overnight. My theory is that he includes hummingbird's to symbolize death or to symbolize making the most of life. In Groundskeeper you see both a skull and a hummingbird this leads me to think they might be juxtaposing each other the skull quite obviously representing death and the hummingbird to remind us of our mortality.

I love the expression on the girls face and the way he has painted her hair. I am normally one for vibrant colour pallets but the colour pallet Glenn has used in this painting is beautiful and gives an ethereal feel, there are other pieces that Glenn has done that exhibits much more vibrant colour pallets. The pink of her dress and the cream of her cloak really makes her stand out from her darker surroundings. The main elements are actually mostly grey with hints of blue in the headstones and yellow in the over cast sky.

The composition is quite standard with most of the key elements cantered in and towards the middle of the piece. The only thing I would have done differently if I would have painted this piece is I would make the gravestones in the background have different patterns/engravings rather than the same for all three. 

I don't think my working style will ever be anything like Glenn Arthur's and even though I love his work I wouldn't really want to pursue making work like his, I would feel like I would be ripping him off which I wouldn't want at all. I think I am satisfied with following his work and admiring the skill he has. I would one day really like to dive into painting with acrylics and maybe achieve that flawless look in my own style, I would also like to really start looking at the poses in which I draw my characters so I do can make my characters more fleshed out, for this I will have to look more into anatomy.